October 14, 2015
The technology industry is all about increasing simplicity and ease. The entire pursuit of an IT department is to make the company faster, more efficient, and connected, so you can bring more value to your customers in Chicago, the U.S., or abroad. With that in mind, the Cisco ONE Software Purchasing Model falls perfectly in line with the philosophy of the industry and our business objectives at Mindsight. We want to help you feel more confident in your IT decisions, and Cisco ONE does exactly that.
Cisco ONE — A Smarter Software Model
In short, Cisco ONE is a new consumption model for Cisco network infrastructure software. Instead of the outdated a la carte model, IT directors can now select from several software suites of features.
In the past, IT Directors have been forced to acquire their data center, WAN, and access switch software solutions at the application level. Every software feature must be purchased piecemeal with licenses tied directly to their hardware. This created an enormously complex process of researching features, testing environments, and at the refresh stage, doing the process all over again to keep up with new advances.
Cisco ONE simplifies this process while increasing flexibility and value in the products Cisco offers.
Available Cisco ONE Network Infrastructure Suites
The suites available through Cisco ONE fall into three categories and have all been arranged to align with the challenges of the 21st century network infrastructure.
Explore Cisco ONE:
- For Access: This suite is a collection of software designed to help you deploy and operate your switches and wireless access points. Benefits include:
- Constructing stable WiFi networks
- Better managing your switching infrastructure and mobile devices
- Improving energy efficiency
- Scaling your network more easily
- For Wide Area Networks (WAN): For companies with multiple branches, Cisco ONE for WAN securely connects your branches together and strengthens your WAN. Benefits include:
- Increasing application performance
- Increasing network security
- Creating reliable hybrid WANs
- For Data Center: Leverage public, hybrid, and private cloud models to create a more efficient and agile data center. Benefits include:
- Automatically provisioning compute resources where they are needed the most
- Controlling and monitoring multiple Cisco Unified Compute Systems (UCS) from a single interface
- Increasing data center performance
Benefits Throughout the Entire Sale Cycle
One of the key goals of Cisco ONE is to increase the value of the software licenses throughout the entire sales cycle. Before you buy, while you own, and at the time of refresh, the Cisco ONE consumption model will continue to benefit your environment.
- Before: The buying process is now faster, easier, and more in tune with your needs.
- During Ownership: As new software and solutions are developed, they will be added to each relevant suite. If your team has licensing rights to that suite, you now have immediate access to this new software without having to find extra OpEx or CapEx wiggle room in the budget.
- Refresh: Through Cisco ONE, your software is no longer tied to your hardware. Your investment will retain its value at the time of refresh, because your licensed suite can be migrated onto the new generation of equipment.
License Flexibility Options
Mindsight and Cisco understand that the rigidness of license agreements could potentially handcuff interested parties, so the new consumption model has also provided a few options to make licenses a little more flexible.
- License Subscription Model: For many IT Directors, a large capital expenditure may not make sense from a budgetary perspective. As a result, Cisco ONE now offers monthly subscriptions.
- Upgrade Options: If you are currently in the middle of your license cycle, you can still take advantage of Cisco ONE. There are upgrade options available to ensure every software is cycling at the same time.
Purchasing Network Software Will Never Be the Same
The Cisco ONE software consumption model revolutionizes the buying process by combining licensing and software agreements into singular suites—making it as convenient as possible for companies to transition to the new system. With all these new advantages, flexibility options, and the ability to access new software advancements in your suite instantly, purchasing network infrastructure software will never be the same, and that’s a very good thing.
Ready to learn more? A Mindsight representative can walk you through the different suite options and help you determine which solution will best address your network challenges. Contact us today, and let’s get started.
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About Mindsight
Mindsight, a Chicago IT consultancy and services provider, is an extension of your team. Our culture is built on transparency and trust, and our team is made up of extraordinary people – the kinds of people you would hire. We’ve always prided ourselves in delivering the full spectrum of IT services and solutions, from design and implementation to support and management. Our highly-certified engineers and process-oriented excellence have certainly been key to our success. But what really sets us apart is our straightforward and honest approach to every conversation, whether it is for a local business or global enterprise. Our customers rely on our thought leadership, responsiveness, and dedication to solving their toughest technology challenges.